Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand supports a campaign to ensure that the National Travel Assistance (NTA) Scheme works better for patients and whānau we care about.
You might also be interested in lending your support to it. It only takes a couple of minutes to sign up and/or you may like to share your own personal experience.
The NTA was set up by the government in 2005 to provide a vital travel subsidy Scheme to support people who need to travel away from home for medical treatment. The Scheme is now very outdated and is failing those people who this was set up to support, those who need this the most. For example, many people cannot afford to meet the significant shortfall in travel and accommodation subsidies, so they are missing out on life-saving treatment. An open letter to the new Minister of Health has been drafted, asking the new Government to prioritise urgent changes to the Scheme.
We are conscious that many people are impacted by the current NTA in various ways. One very powerful part of this campaign is individuals and whānau sharing their own personal experience of NTA through the media. The Cancer Society communications team would work closely with you to capture and share your story in a way that feels comfortable and safe to you. Let us know if you would be interested in doing this/or you can signal your interest through the website sign-up form.
You can read more about it and sign up as an organisation/individual here www.letsdrivechange.org.nz